View Gotta Race!
“Gotta Race!”
By Ken Schrader
Review by Gregg Leary
Category:NASCAR -> Sprint Cup
“Racing is as necessary to Kenny’s life as breathing,” writes co-author Joyce Standidge. After reading “Gotta Race!” I agree with her. The book is full of lively quotes, fun anecdotes and humorous stories. Ken Schrader is a piece of work. As Rick Hendrick said, “They broke the mold.” Get ready to laugh.
“He did everything we asked him to do in the car and for the sponsor. He wasn’t doing it for the money-he was doing it because he loved it. It’s hard to find someone who has the talent behind the wheel that he does, but still has so much personality and charm outside the race car.” Rick Hendrick
“Kenny was willing to share with Jeff (Gordon) when he was a young rookie coming in and trying to learn. There was no friction on our team, because Kenny wouldn’t allow it. And what he meant to Jeff was one of the keys to success we all enjoyed” Rick Hendrick
After Kenny went end-over-end about 9 times at Talladega, he was in the infield care center wondering who had punted him. Rick told him it was Jeff who did it and asked Ken to calm Jeff down on the radio. Schrader did.
“Kenny Schrader could be funny just reading the phone book out loud.” Bones Bourcier
Ken won the very first race he entered, at Lake Hill Speedway the day after his 16th birthday.
“I was counting on car owners seeing hunger as a better deal than experience.” Ken S
You may have heard the expression, “He passed me like I was tied to a post!” Well, in Ken Schrader’s life, it was literally true. His dad, Bill tied a cable from Ken’s go-kart to a post in their backyard. Ken would go round in circles until his kart ran out of gas. He was THREE. On one occasion, the tether broke and Ken slammed into a concrete birdbath.
Schrader says, “Racing is all I’ve ever known. I’ve been racing since I could walk, and it is all that I’ve ever wanted to do. To be honest, I would race everyday if I had the opportunity.” “It’s not only my job…it’s also my hobby. I love the time I get to spend behind the wheel, and as long as I can, I’m going to race whenever I get the chance.”
Schrader owns I-55 Raceway in Pevely, MO., where he runs his “Night of Stars” Charity event.
“You either get Schrader, or you don’t. And if you do, you recognize that he is an American motorsports treasure.” Bones Bourcier
“Schrader has won at the biggest track of them all, the Talladega Superspeedway (2.66 miles), and the smallest track I’ve ever seen, tiny Macon Speedway (1/5 mile), out there amidst the Illinois cornfields.” Bones Bourcier
Tony Stewart is well-known for winning the USAC Triple Crown (Midgets, Sprints, Silver Crown) in 1995. Schrader ALMOST did it in 1983. Ken won the Sprint Car Title, was 2nd in Silver Crown and 3rd in Midgets.
Ken blew an engine during hot laps just before the final Silver Crown race at Nazareth in 1982. Sheldon Kinser loaned Ken his car so he could win the championship. (Ken named his son Sheldon, after Kinser.)
Ken crashed an Indy Car at Indianapolis in 1983 while trying to finish up his Rookie test. He did not make the race and decided it was time to move South and concentrate on stock car racing.
In 1984, Ken did a “rent a ride” with Elmo Langley for 3 races in NASCAR Cup.
In November of 1984, Ken and Ann got married and went on their Honeymoon with Danny Lasoski and his wife to the Turkey Night Grand Prix at Ascot. When Ken returned there was a message on his answering machine that said, “You need to fly down here and talk to me, Bubba.” It was from Junie Donlavey.
Kenny has taken flying lessons, but has the bad habit of falling asleep during the lesson. He also is well known for napping in his race cars while waiting to qualify.
Ken’s dad owned a garage in Valley Park, Missouri only an eighth of a mile from the race track. No tow-vehicle or trailer needed, just fire up the race car and drive it to the pit gate. Ken spent lots of time at the garage, much like Dale Earnhardt did with his dad, Ralph.
Ken had an oval braided rug by the back door that was a “race track” for his toy cars. Later he would own a full-size race track at Pevely, Missouri.
Ken lived on the road to the local race track. The track starter’s wife made him a set of flags. He would flag the tow vehicles that headed to the race track…green or checker to drivers he liked…red to those he didn’t.
Ken and Ann have two children, Dorothy and Sheldon. Ann says, “If we weren’t in this sport, I would have five kids, but because we are in racing I figured out that you have two hands and two kids so you can get through an airport.”
Ken says (about his kids): “I hope they don’t mind growing up before I do.”
Some interesting stories you can look forward to in “Gotta Race!”
The time he tried to kill Rusty Wallace on a motorcycle.
When he took Dale Junior on a “lost weekend” when Junior was 16. “During that weekend, Junior got acquainted with his future sponsor.”
To Carl Edwards: “Go home and race. Drive any piece of sh** you can drive. Anything. Just get laps.”
Ken gives insightful comments on many racers in his book. Among them:
Dale Earnhardt
Jeff Gordon
Rich Vogler
Tony Stewart
Dick Trickle
Michael Waltrip
Richard Petty
“Never put all your eggs in one basket, especially when you no longer have the NASCAR Nextel Cup money pipeline available to replenish your nest-egg.”
“I still want to win. I want to win every single race I run and have since I was a toddler. I expect I will still feel that way when I’m an old man souping up a wheelchair for the Nursing Home Derby.”
“Remember Leonardo DeCaprio on the bow of the Titanic yelling into the sky, ‘I’m the King of the world!’ That’s how you feel when you and your car are completely in sync.”
“Racing is a young-thinking man’s game, not necessarily a young man’s game.”
“If the best years of your life are the years you spend doing what speaks to your heart and soul, then I’ve been blessed.”
“I can’t think of any buy-a-ride success stories. No matter how many zeroes there are on the check, it won’t cancel out a zero behind the wheel.”
Ken relates to Paul Newman’s character in the Indy movie, “Winning.” When Frank Capua takes an extra victory lap after winning the 500 he is asked why. “Because I didn’t feel like stopping.” That seems a fitting end to Schrader’s book.
Ken Schrader’s “Gotta Race!” rates three out of five lug nuts. There are “miles of smiles” in this autobiography.